Zebra Waxbill - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Orange-breasted Waxbill

Amandava subflava

Male
Photo by rudydbn
Eston, KZN, South Africa, February 2006

Identification

9cm

• Reddish iris
• Orange breast
• Red bill
• Dark olive-green plumage
  

Male

• Red rump
• Dark bars on whitish flank
• Scarlet eyebrow stripe
  

Female: duller and smaller than male and lacks the red eyebrow

Distribution

Sub Saharan Africa and Middle East
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Taxonomy

There are two recognized subspecies.¹

• A. s. subflavus:

• Senegal to southern Sudan, Ethiopia and western Kenya, Southern Yemen

• A. s. clarkei:

• Gabon and western Angola to Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa

Some authorities place this species in the genus Sporaeginthus.

Habitat

Grassland and savannas.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes seeds, insects and shoots.

Breeding

The clutch of 4-6 eggs is laid in an oval-shaped nest made from grass.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Zebra Waxbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Zebra_Waxbill

External Links

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